One interesting piece of data is the monthly revenue report from the Massachusetts Department of Revenue. The other is the monthly data on employment and unemployment, broken down by state, county, and the city of Springfield.

The revenue report shows a very large increase in state revenues for 2013 compared to 2012. Withholding taxes, those taxes withheld from employee paychecks, was reported for November 2013 at 6.5 percent above what they were in November 2102.

This indicates more people are employed than the previous year. Also, it seems people are spending more as sales tax for that period including meals, regular sales, and car sales were 6.2 percent greater for 2013 compared to 2012.

What we find very interesting, however, is that the state’s unemployment rate seems to be stuck during this same period at a range from 6.3 percent to 7.1 percent.

While we continue to analyze the data to explain what seems to be a large number of people unemployed but still a healthy increase in withholding taxes, it does seem that businesses are having more workers work longer hours with overtime pay, or doing more work but employing temporary workers rather than hiring new employees.

Many businesses are leery of the broken decision-making that has become Washington, D.C. The federal Accountable Care Act has had more of an effect on Massachusetts than was anticipated. although far less than what most other states are seeing.

Nevertheless it remains an unknown for businesses and one that has seen almost weekly changes to this mandate which, on its own, is unsettling.

Sequestration, shall it come again or not, is another unknown. Defense spending: up, down, or flat? While our manufacturers in this region have done a great job of diversifying their customer base, defense is still an important customer. How to plan for that unknown is just one more grey cloud making the environment less certain.

So what are businesses doing? It seems certain that they are holding back on expansion plans, or at best going forward at a slower pace.

Banks are telling us that they have money to lend but their customers are reluctant to step forward because of these unknowns. Our region is blessed with banks whose names are known nationally and internationally, community banks that bear names of familiar cities, towns and counties,and credit unions many families have enjoyed for generations. Therefore, no matter the size of a loan - from the very large loan to the very small loan, our region’s financial services are ready to lend. We do see signs of increased borrowing in 2014.

State government has its share of unknowns as well, especially with several initiative petitions going to the November 2014 election ballot. These range from an increase in the minimum wage to mandating paid sick leave. While the state Legislature may take these issues on first, and probably will with a minimum wage increase, the uncertainty of the November ballot will act as a break upon businesses expansion plans or for those looking to locate here.

It seems some of the grey clouds are lifting. The Affordable Care Act, for good or for bad, will be more settled in 2014. The federal government recently passed a two-year budget that while some will argue about, is at least in place, and the threat of additional sequestration seems to be off the table.

At the state level there is hope that the House will look at a modest increase in the minimum wage and couple it with some amendments to the unemployment insurance system in Massachusetts that will hopefully drive that cost down.

2014 looks like a year of growth. How strong that is will depend largely upon the state and federal government sending strong signals of encouragement to the business sector and not creating clouds of doubt that has been the case for the last few years.

The region’s businesses stand ready and hopeful to increasing jobs in our region and the Affiliated Chambers of Commerce of Greater Springfield will be involved every step of the way.

Jeffrey Ciuffreda is president and CEO of the Affiliated Chambers of Commerce of Greater Springfield; to learn more about the chambers, go online to myonlinechamber.com.